Two rebel legislators in Karnataka, Ramalinga Reddy of the Congress and Gopalaiah of the JD(S), did not appear before Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar on Monday for a personal hearing on their resignations, according to official sources.

Why they stayed away

The Speaker had asked the two MLAs last week to come to his office. Assembly secretariat sources said both telephoned the Assembly Secretary’s office to say they could not attend on Monday and asked for a fresh date, which the Speaker had yet to set. Gopalaiah was in Mumbai with other dissident MLAs, while Reddy reportedly cited personal reasons.

Reddy, a seven-time Congress MLA, tweeted earlier that day that he was in Bengaluru, dismissing reports that he was heading to Mumbai, where the other rebels were staying, and asking the media not to spread rumours. The Congress has treated him as an “exception” and has not sought his disqualification, since he has said he is not leaving the party. HD Kumaraswamy, the Chief Minister, along with CLP leader Siddaramaiah and KC Venugopal, an AICC general secretary, had tried to persuade him to withdraw his resignation. Congress leaders believe that if he does, at least three Bengaluru MLAs, ST Somashekar, Munirathna and Byrathi Basavaraj, may do the same.

The resignations and the court case

Reddy and Gopalaiah were among the first 13 MLAs of the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition to resign on July 6; three more quit later. The Speaker found only five of the first 13 letters in the correct format: those of Reddy, Gopalaiah, the JD(S) MLA Narayana Gowda, and Congress MLAs Prathap Gouda Patil and Anand Singh. He set July 12 and 15 for hearings and asked the rest to resubmit properly. Gowda, Singh and Patil did not turn up on July 12.

Ten MLAs who had gone to the Supreme Court, complaining that their resignations were not being accepted, met him on Thursday, as the court had directed, and handed in fresh letters, but he declined to take an immediate decision. On Friday the court barred him from deciding on the resignations or on disqualification until July 16. On Monday it agreed to hear a petition from five more rebel Congress MLAs, filed on July 13, together with the pending plea of the 10.

What happened next

The Congress-JD(S) government led by HD Kumaraswamy, which had taken office on 23 May 2018 with Congress support, fell in July 2019, and BS Yeddyurappa returned as Chief Minister.

See also: Janata Dal (Secular) | State assembly members

Originally published on 16 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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